Chris Robinson Finds Different Family in New Brotherhood
Last year, Chris Robinson and his family moved to Marin County in Northern California at a house situated on the side of Mt. Tamalpais overlooking Stinson Beach. The singer/guitarist was so taken by the beauty of the natural surroundings that he called up his Brotherhood — guitarist Neal Casal, keyboardist…
Best Days of Stillman: The Love & Friendship Auteur Talks Jane Austen, Will Ferrell and His Search for Connection
At long last, Whit Stillman has adapted a Jane Austen book. To be sure, he has touched on her work numerous times — particularly in his 1990 directorial debut Metropolitan, in which an argument about Mansfield Park gave us the immortal line “I don’t read novels. I prefer good literary…
Houston Punks Crime Wave Reunite for Not Horrible Fest in Cleveland
Proving once again that many Houston bands have life after death, hardcore punks Crime Wave are rising from the grave for a one-off performance at the Not Horrible Festival in Cleveland, Ohio, Saturday, May 28. Crime Wave’s resurrection precedes a much anticipated reunion of Houston grind-core princes Insect Warfare later…
In Love & Friendship, Whit Stillman and Kate Beckinsale Prove They’re the Masters of Austenland
In his archly empathetic comedies, Whit Stillman has long chronicled the uncertain ways in which young people of privilege launch themselves into worlds too in decline to offer them much. The debutante-ball life of Metropolitan or the nightclub and publishing circles of The Last Days of Disco are already dying before…
Houston’s Truly Groovy: Experience the Groovement
Houston hip hop act Truly Groovy — made up of Shamon Freeman (Money Mon), his cousin Justin Freeman-Mays (Jai Maize or Justo) and Jamal Rashawn Young (Polo G5) — started creating music together three years ago in a garage. Their freestyle rapping sessions together clicked, so they decided to start a group…
Weiner Makes Comic Tragedy of a Candidate’s Fall
The first time I saw the documentary Weiner, at Missouri’s True/False Festival this past March, Donald Trump was boasting about the size of his cock during a presidential debate. Given the recent direction of our electoral politics, you might think that a film about former New York Representative Anthony Weiner…
The 10 Best Bars for Houston Transplants
Our city is home to hundreds of thousands of people who were born and raised in the greater Houston area – folks who grew up on AstroWorld, the Luv Ya Blue Oilers and one of the world’s best livestock show and rodeos. These folks know the city, including the local…
UT Scientist Says Companies Knew of the Link Between Earthquakes and Oil Activity Decades Ago
It all started in 2008, when earthquakes were roiling North Texas and reporters started calling University of Texas-Austin geoscientist Cliff Frohlich asking if they could be tied to the oil and natural gas activity in the area. “I said it wasn’t possible. It’s the most uninformed thing I’ve ever…
How To Leftovers: Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Sauce
My family struggles with leftovers. My wife and kids rebel at the mention of “last night’s pot roast,” and pale at the thought of eating something twice in as many days. I consider leftovers a gift to future me, affording me one more day before I have to be productive…
Why Rock Never Really Got Over the Early ’90s
Over the last few years, I’ve noticed a strange sort of nostalgia develop for the late-’80s hair-metal trend, which puzzles me. Sure, almost everything is cyclical, and musical trends come and go, but it boggles my mind to see young people romanticize an era when the radio and MTV bombarded…
The Night Torche Blew Through Town
Torche, Eagle Claw, Omotai Rudyard’s British Pub May 12, 2016 As the lightning crashed, the rain drizzled and the mosquitos buzzed about happily last Thursday night, it was hard to escape the notion that somewhere, up there in the thunderclouds, a terrible new Houston summer was being birthed. It’s only…
My Mom’s Boyfriend Won’t Stop Texting Me. Help!
MY MOM’S BOYFRIEND WON’T STOP TEXTING ME Dear Willie D: I went out to dinner with my mom and her new boyfriend, and we took a bunch of pictures. The battery to my phone was dead, so my mom took her phone out to take the pictures, but she couldn’t…
Meet the Design Pro Who Made Atlanta Look Like Los Angeles in The Nice Guys
Richard Bridgland was given an impossible task: recreate 1970s Hollywood for Shane Black’s buddy conspiracy thriller The Nice Guys … in Atlanta. As a production designer, Bridgland’s had to make the Czech Republic look like 1930s rural North Carolina (Serena), New Orleans look like West Virginia (American Ultra) and a…
Elite Class Deconstructed With Rapier Thrusts in The Texas Repertory Theatre Co.’s Hay Fever
The set-up: By the time Noël Coward premiered Hay Fever in London (1925), he was already labeled one of England’s “bright young things.” It’s a sobriquet Coward himself might have invented. A veteran child actor, musical revue composer and lyricist, cafe society darling and budding playwright, Coward was on a…
Texas Loses Two Musical Icons in One Morning
This morning Texas music fans are reeling after the deaths of two icons, Tejano superstar Emilio Navaira and legendary songwriter Guy Clark, were announced within hours of each other. Both men helped define two archetypes of the Texas musician that span well beyond the state’s borders even today — Navaria…
10 Ways To Evaluate Sushi Like a Boss: Busting Myths With Expert Tips
While I was on my review visits at KA Sushi, I had a little nagging voice in the back of my head. “Aren’t those pieces kind of small?” I temporarily shooed it away, chalking up my expectations for larger pieces to an American—and, most especially, Texan—acclimation to larger portion sizes…
Officials Say HCSO Deputy Played Lookout for Cops at Wife’s Illegal Game Room
Another Harris County Sheriff’s Office has been fired this year—and no, it’s not for having an inappropriate relationship with the key witness in the shooting of Deputy Darren Goforth. Yesterday, police arrested former deputy Jose Ramirez for misuse of official information, which is a felony, after Ramirez was caught conducting…
High-End Wine Pours Deliver Fantastic Value at Pappas Bros. Tastings In Downtown Houston
Imagine a dreamy shortlist of Nebbiolo wines from Piedmont that includes legendary houses like Giuseppe Mascarello, Produttori del Barbaresco, and Roberto Voerzio. Then add to that a smattering of rare and esoteric white wines from some of Italy’s most sought-after domains. And just to sweeten the deal for the oil…
Paxton Intervenes in Exxon Fraud Probe, Says Lying About Science Is a Matter of Opinion
If you care about freedom of speech and freedom of thought, then according to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, yesterday was a historic, important day for you. Yesterday, Paxton, along with Alabama’s attorney general, filed to intervene in an investigation that the attorney general of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Claude…
10 Essential Classic NFL Games for the NFL’s YouTube Channel
With the progress of technology, following sports and having informed opinions (well, hopefully informed) on generational types of arguments should become easier and easier. It’s scary to think how hot my takes would have been as a youngster back in the early 80’s if I had video of old games…
“El Coleccionista” at Sicardi Gallery Is the Antidote to a Stressful Day
Experience a range of emotions while viewing “El Coleccionista” (“The Collector”), the new video installation by Columbian artist Óscar Muñoz at Sicardi Gallery, including a sense of calm, intrusiveness, surprise, wonder and even a fleeting moment of panic. There’s only one work in the show, a 52-minute looped video projection…
This Week in Houston Food Blogs: A Real Good Tex-Mex Option in Montrose
This week’s food blogger revue consists mostly of reviews, including a round-up of favorite brunch spots, plus a springtime soup recipe. First up, Shanna Jones of Urban Swank put together a list of three top brunch spots that deserve to be part of the blog’s new series, Brunch Famous. One…
Supreme Court Punts on HBU’s Birth Control Case, Sends Back to Lower Courts
Houston Baptist University and several other religious organizations across the country were asking the U.S. Supreme Court to exempt them entirely from having to provide their employees contraceptives through insurance. But on Monday, the Supreme Court decided not to issue an opinion at all, instead leaving lower courts to sort…
The Leads in Ensemble Theatre’s Plenty of Time Are So Good, We Actually Root for Them to Get It On
The set-up: I guess if you’ve never seen Bernard Slade’s romantic comedy, Same Time, Next Year, which spans decades during a love affair between two people married to others (on Broadway in 1975 with Ellen Burstyn and Charles Grodin; in the movies in 1978 with Burstyn and Alan Alda), you…
We May Never Know What Happened the Night Melvin Swift Was Shot Dead
Melvin Swift tried to keep up, but something was weighing him down. It was a hot summer day last May, and Swift was trudging around the large field at Westbury Christian Athletic Complex in Fondren while wearing a 20-pound vest strapped over his lean chest. It was nearly 100 degrees…
KA Sushi’s Bountiful Platings Hit the Mark Far More Often Than Not
Over the past year, the Heights has been the epicenter for ambitious restaurant openings in Houston. These include Hunky Dory, Morningstar, Foreign Correspondents, Bernadine’s, Republic Diner + Sojubang and Southern Goods. Just across Shepherd Drive from the last is KA Sushi, and it is perhaps the least talked about and…
Upcoming: Animal Collective, Culture Club, Jill Scott, Life Stinks, Maceo Parker, Pet Shop Boys, Wolfgang Gartner, etc.
Note: events in bold reflect highly recommended shows. 24th Street Wailers: Thu., May 19, 10 p.m., Free. Continental Club, 3700 Main, Houston, 713-529-9899. A Place To Bury Strangers: With The Ex-Optimists, Something Fierce, Omotai, Cornish Game Hen. Fri., June 17, 7:30 p.m., $10. Satellite, 6922 Harrisburg, Houston. Alan Parsons Live…
“The Most Interesting Man in Rap” Is a Hefty Title, and Vince Staples Owns It
To Vince Staples, the most interesting thing about being in an airport is picking out the perfect set of headphones. This past Sunday was a travel day for Staples in the midst of his Circa ’06 tour, which hits Houston’s Warehouse Live tonight. To him, touring the country and meeting new…
Dog Dies After CenterPoint Meter Man Beats Her With Wrench
Mike Willcox is running out of lies. It has been five days since the family dog, Shutter, died from what the vet believes was a brain hemorrhage, caused by a random CenterPoint contract worker striking Shutter in the head with a wrench. But Willcox and his wife haven’t found a…
Freddie Gibbs Brings a BFK Gangsta Glare to Warehouse Live
Freddie Gibbs Warehouse Live May 14, 2016 When you stand around for a rap show, you start noticing your surroundings and the people you’re about to share an experience with. Freddie Gibbs concerts, at least if you let social media tell it, offer all walks of life into the Temple…
What Could an “I Love the 2010s” Tour Look Like?
Package tours have been an important part of the concert business since at least the early rock and roll era. The infamous “Winter Dance Party” of early 1959, featuring Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper, was one; as was the original Lollapalooza tours of the early ’90s. Promoters love…
A Sorority Spirit Seizes the Neighbors-verse
In Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, the sequel to 2014’s old-people-vs.-frat-brothers comedy, Zac Efron takes off his shirt in nearly every scene he’s in. It’s a sight to behold — again and again and again, but a calculated effort, like most of this film, to appeal to the ladies. As surprising…
L.A. Noir Action Buddy Comedy The Nice Guys Is Almost All It Aims to Be
If it had come out 20 years ago, when its creator was Hollywood’s best-paid screenwriter, Shane Black’s The Nice Guys might have stood, for some, as more proof that the studios had lost their way. So much money lavished on bloody buddy formula, on two-fisted archetypes cracking a case, some…
South African Restaurant Peli Peli Secures Lease in Katy
Another full-fledged Peli Peli restaurant is in the works and co-owner Thomas Nguyen says it is destined for Katy. The notable South African restaurant is set to open it’s third full-fledged location and fourth overall restaurant in the former Kenzo Sushi Bistro in the La Centerra shopping center at 23501 Cinco…
#Cakegate Guy Drops Lawsuit, Says Whole Foods Didn’t Write Homophobic Slur on His Dessert
The #Cakegate odyssey is over. In April, openly gay Austin Pastor Jordan Brown posted on social media a picture of a cake from Whole Foods with “Love Wins Fag” written on it, claiming he had ordered the baked good to celebrate LGBTQ rights and received a sugary homophobic slur instead…
Texas GOP Adopts Platform to Stop Abortion and End LGBT Rights
Over the weekend, the Republican Party of Texas laid out its beliefs in 26 pages, including its support of several different types of discrimination, its usual positions on the unborn and undocumented immigrants, and its immense disrespect for the federal government. It’s a platform comprised of 266 policy goals that…
New NCAA Anti-Discrimination Rules Could Cost Houston
Controversy has swirled across the nation since North Carolina passed anti-transgender legislation. Major corporations have threatened to pull business from the state. Major entertainment acts have refused to perform and have canceled concerts, and the NBA has discussed pulling next year’s All Star game from the state. Prompted by this…
Toyota Center’s Crowd Was Loud for Rihanna, Even When She Wasn’t
Rihanna, Travi$ Scott Toyota Center May 15, 2016 Rihanna is at her best when she’s singing. Her combination of god-given vocal talent, god-given charisma and the best songs money can buy make her an undeniable force when she steps up to a microphone. Whether it was showing off her range…
Study Finds Flint-Quality Water in Texas Homes for the Disabled
Not wanting Flint, Michigan, to hog all the toxic-drinking-water glory, three Texas facilities that care for the disabled have reported levels of lead that contain “18 times the amount of the lead that triggers” federal action, the Dallas Morning News cheerfully reports. Two state agencies overseeing the hundreds of residents…
Winifred: Unsettling Tale of Nazi Love Has World Premiere in Houston
The set-up: In its world-premiere from Theater LaB Houston, written and directed by Alva Hascall in collaboration with UnCommonWill Collective, Winifred is very much new-wave German expressionist theater. With its expansive use of projections, Brechtian fourth-wall breaking (Winifred talks to the stage manager, the sound designer and the audience throughout), and…
Houston Exhibit Transforms Shattered Images of Beaumont Rice Mills Into Hallucinogenic Dreams
Artist Joan Steinman has painted a love letter to her family by returning to her Beaumont roots and reimagining the angles and geometry of the historic Beaumont Rice Mills, a still viable grower, miller and distributor begun by her great grandfather in 1892. “The Mill” is her tenth exhibit at…
Dish of the Week: Enchiladas Suizas
From classic comfort foods to regional standouts and desserts, we’ll be sharing a new recipe with you each week. Find other dishes of the week here. This week, we’re taking a look at Enchiladas Suizas. Derived from the Spanish verb enchilar, meaning “to add chile to” – enchiladas are a…
Evicted With Nowhere to Go: Weeks After Flood, Greenspoint Residents Still Seek Reprieve
Mary Basquez and her family are living in an apartment that looks like an unfinished basement. After the flood waters overtook her first-story home at Sierra Villa apartments in Greenspoint, she and her husband and their two daughters ripped the carpet up from the floors. Management came and removed all…
Harris County Cops Will Jail You for Small Crimes Because of a Software Problem, Says DA
Nine years ago, the Texas Legislature took a bold step toward criminal justice reform that could have helped thousands of people charged with low-level misdemeanors avoid jail time, and could have saved counties and taxpayers across the state millions of dollars for not having to jail them. The bill lawmakers…
Meet Hatsune Miku, Pop Music’s Ruling Hologram
One of the world’s hottest pop stars is a Japanese teenager currently in the midst of her first extended North American concert tour. She’s opened for Lady Gaga and has worked with Pharrell. This month, she is featured in Vogue magazine and she regularly has thousands of aspiring songwriters begging for…
Where Game of Thrones Has Been, and Where It’s (Possibly) Going
Season 6 of HBO’s Game of Thrones premiered on April 24, and for the first time, the televised adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s sprawling fantasy series has almost completely moved beyond the books (the exception being the doings of the Greyjoys, which we’ll talk about later). The “leave the source material…
At 84, Loretta Lynn Is Plenty Woman Enough for Arena Theatre
Loretta Lynn Arena Theatre May 14, 2016 On Saturday night, the Arena Theater was looking at country. Because two evenings ago, Houston welcomed the legendary singer Loretta Lynn, who after 60 years of genre-defining hits like “Coal Miner’s Daughter” and “Fist City” released her new album Full Circle at the…
This Week in Houston Food Events: Fourth Annual Houston Barbecue Festival
All Week It’s American Craft Beer Week at Flying Saucer, 705 Main, which means that you can get sweet deals on unusual beers all week long. Monday features New Belgium with $3 Fat Tire and Lips of Faith flights, Tuesday showcases Avery with $3 White Rascal and special Demon series…
Big Tex Road Trip: Best Arts
The Houston Press is close to publishing an ambitious statewide Texas road trip that you can tackle this summer. In the meantime, we’re listing some of our favorite visual and performing arts and culture destinations. Boy, there’s a lot out there. Although we’re putting the finishing touches on our Big…
Spectacular J.J. Watt Charity Classic Raises $1.6 Million (w/ VIDEO)
Any argument about J.J. Watt and his place in Texans history or his place in Houston sports history, are, almost by nature, subjective debates in which the rules slide depending on whose side you’re on. Andre Johnson versus J.J. Watt. Nolan Ryan versus J.J. Watt. It all generates fun banter…
The Cure Played One of 2016’s Best Shows Saturday Night
The Cure Toyota Center May 14, 2016 The main thrust of any concert review should give the reader a general impression of the show in question, as well as provide some indication of how much the reviewer — if not the rest of the audience — enjoyed it. To that…
Shows of the Week: A Pop-Star Outlier’s Latest Cathedral of Sound
PVRIS House of Blues, May 16 It is likely folly at this point to look at the Warped Tour and expect any of the up-and-coming acts to break out into the mainstream; those days feel long behind us. But then an act like PVRIS comes along, ticking a bunch of…
Astronaut Scott Kelly Tells UH Grads to Better Their Planet at Commencement Address
History-making retired astronaut Capt. Scott Kelly talked about what it’s like to be on top of a space shuttle as the spacecraft is getting ready to depart. “There’s a countdown clock heading to zero and that’s when you start to think, ‘Boy, this is a really dumb thing I’m doing,'”…
Massive Pilgrim’s Pride Recall Has Grown to Include More Than 5 Million Pounds of Chicken
Schools and other institutions that buy fully-cooked chicken in bulk should consider checking their inventory. For some, this won’t be the first time they’ve heard that as of late. A recall of fully-cooked chicken products from Pilgrim’s Pride started on April 7 has now grown to include over 5 million…
Dan Patrick Threatens To Flush Federal Education Funding Down The Toilet
One of Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and the rest of his office’s favorite past times is to pretend Texas can pay for itself, thank you very much, without the federal government’s help. The state is currently playing hardball with healthcare, pretending to act in proud defiance of a so-called “overreaching…
Ben Wheatley and Amy Jump Achieved High-Rise‘s Look on a Shoestring. Here’s How.
Ben Wheatley and Amy Jump’s microbudget black-and-white English Civil War mushroom-trip movie A Field in England (2013) squeezed a tense and bizarre story from just a few dudes wandering around in a field. The married couple and filmmaking team — Wheatley as director and Jump as writer — previously made…
John Evans Discovers the Healing Properties of ‘Polyester’
It’s been a little more than six years since John Evans moved to Austin, but he could be forgiven for hardly noticing sometimes. Raised in the Sagemont area, where he starred in football for Dobie High School and later Lamar University, Evans wound up winning more than a dozen Houston…
Taking Hostages Won’t Reform Wall Street or Fix Jodie Foster’s Money Monster
As generic and impersonal as a new credit-card offer, Jodie Foster’s Money Monster is the latest big-studio production to try to cash in on populist outrage over Wall Street abuses and New Gilded Age inequality. There’s a lot of excitable talk about algorithms (or “algos”), the overuse of the term…
It’s Okay to Miss Much of What’s Being Shown in things missing/missed
The set up: Site specific theater. Immersive theater. Actorless performance theater. Just when you think you’re up on all the hip non-traditional types of shows, those crazy artsy kids come up with something new. The latest to hit Houston is a genre called devised theater and it’s the basis for…
Rice and UH Battle for the Silver Glove and for the Postseason
For just over three and a half hours on Tuesday night, things were as they were supposed to be. The Houston Cougars were dominating the Rice Owls in college baseball. With the Silver Glove on the line, the Cougars were living up to the preseason hype that saw the team…
A Stink in Galveston: Morticia the Corpse Flower Brings Full Bloom and Funk
There’s something rotten in Galveston, and it’s sure to gain some attention. Moody Gardens’ Giant Corpse Flower, Morticia, has started to bloom, and her uniqueness is guaranteed to leave an impression. Moody Garden’s will be keeping extended hours this weekend for people to come see – and smell – this…
County Attorney Defends Southlawn Gang Injunction, Compares Neighborhood to “Physically Abused Woman”
In a letter that County Attorney Vince Ryan penned to the Houston American Civil Liberties Union this week, he swears that banning people for up to four years from their community is not a punishment for whatever they did in the past. In fact, he compares the Southlawn gang injunction…
Houston’s 5 Best Weekend Food Bets: Get Your Gyro on at Greek Fest
Here’s a look at this weekend’s best culinary happenings: Houston Greek Fest @ St. Basil The Great Greek Orthodox Church Friday & Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday noon to 5 p.m. 1100 Eldridge Get a taste of Hellenic culture at this Greek festival, featuring the finest in Greek…
Come to The Nether, Where People Live Out Their Virtual Reality Fantasies
“The dream police, they live inside of my head The dream police, they come to me in my bed The dream police, they’re coming to arrest me, oh no” It was 1979 when Cheap Trick ear-wormed radio listeners with their ditty about the policing of private thought, long before Jennifer…
ICE Plans More Raids Targeting Women and Kids As Private Detention Center Profits Soar
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is planning another round of raids similar to those over a two-day stretch in January that targeted undocumented women and children from Central America living in Georgia, North Carolina and Texas, Reuters reported yesterday, citing an internal ICE document and two anonymous sources who confirmed…
Upcoming Houston Food Events: A “Chopped” Field Trip & a Very Special Pop-Up
Mark your calendars, because you don’t want to miss these deliciously fun culinary events: In honor of Chef Justin Turner’s epic victory of Food Network’s “Chopped,” Bernie’s Burger Bus, 5407 Bellaire, 2643 Commercial Center (Katy), is offering an extra special Field Trip menu, inspired by dishes from the show. Get…
Reviews For The Easily Distracted: Money Monster
Title: Money Monster Seriously, “Money Monster?” Barring a 2016 Adam Sandler release, this is pretty much a lock for worst movie title of the year. Describe This Movie In One Simpsons Quote: Page: “Senator, there’s a problem at the essay contest!” Senator: “Please, son, I’m very busy.” Page: “A little girl is losing…
Gov. Abbott Urges Voters to Support You-Know-Who at Texas GOP Convention
Kicking off the Texas GOP Convention in Dallas on Thursday, Governor Greg Abbott took the stage to somehow endorse Donald Trump without even uttering his name. In his speech, Abbott spent more time on explaining why Hillary Clinton cannot be elected president than he did on anything else, not even…
The Five Best Things to Do in Houston This Weekend: Giant Bunnies and the Cistern
It’s a weird and wacky weekend in Houston, with giant, glowing bunnies waving their ears in the wind downtown and the oh-so-spooky historic underwater Cistern finally opening up to the public. It’s also a weekend for community, and how great things can happen when we come together as a city…
Raven Tower’s Sunday Yoga Sessions Come Chopped and Screwed
Every week, Raven Tower and Black Swan Yoga are reinventing Sunday Funday with their “Plank then Drank” free yoga on Raven Tower’s spacious 3,000 square-foot outdoor patio. Beginning at 10 a.m., Black Swan attendees stretch and strengthen their bodies under the sun, flowing to music far from what you might hear at…
The Way Too Early Texans 53-Man Roster Forecast, v 1.0
This is always a very fluid, somewhat discombobulated time to be a fan of an NFL team. With a slew of drafted rookies, undrafted rookies, practice squad guys, and street free agents — not to mention, this season, newly signed veteran free agents — assessing exactly what you have and…
Openings and Closings in Houston: Three Houston Classics Close
This week, perennial favorite Mark’s American Cuisine, 1658 Westheimer, announced that it will be suspending service on May 29. However, all currently scheduled obligations will still be honored, and the restaurant will still operate for private events, as well as catering services, after May 29. Southern eatery Big Eyed Fish,…
New Names Finalized for 7 Schools in an Extraordinarily Calm HISD Meeting
Perhaps aided by the absence of trustee Jolanda Jones, who was attending her son’s college graduation out of state, the Houston ISD board of education moved things along Thursday night refraining from too much more rhetoric before voting to approve all the proposed name changes at seven district schools. Board…
Even “Improved” Sections of Brays Bayou Can’t Guard Against a 10-Year Flood
It sort of makes sense that uncompleted sections of Project Brays, a years-long improvement project that will allow the 21-mile channel to carry more water downstream and into the Houston Ship Channel, is prone to significant flooding. But what about the enhanced portions of the bayou that cost a lot…
Willie D Still Knows How to Shock People
Note: this article contains language that some readers may find offensive. As many of you know, Willie D, one-third of Houston’s notorious Geto Boys, writes a respected and well-read advice column for this very publication. Many of the letters he gets deal with sensitive and intimate issues between lovers, spouses…
#NewHoustonRap: The Best Rapper You’re Not Listening To
Javon Johnson is the best rapper that you’re currently not listening to. Well, scratch that. Johnson is the best rapper that you’ve never truly heard of, yet is one of the rare modern throwbacks in rap right now. Johnson used to go simply by “X” before he opted to use…
10 Types of People You Meet at Shows (and Wish You Hadn’t)
Concerts are supposed to be fun. A group of your closest friends, your favorite music, drinks and dancing—what could possibly go wrong? Well, if you’ve spent any amount of time in a venue, chances are you’ve run into a few regulars. And while bar-fly shaming may be uncomfortable to those…
Revitalization of IAH Continues With Chef-Driven Restaurants and High-Tech Ordering Systems
United Airlines announced today that its terminals at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), specifically Terminal B South, Terminal C (including the Terminal C north concourse slated to open next year) and Terminal E, are about to get some major upgrades, including chef-driven dining options. This news comes as previously-announced extensions…
Resurrection of an Icon: Robert Del Grande Reclaims the Cafe Annie Name
Visitors to 1800 Post Oak will see something that may invoke a great deal of nostalgia. RDG + Bar Annie has been rebranded to award-winning chef Robert Del Grande’s former restaurant name, Cafe Annie. Along with reclaiming the classic logo and iconography, Del Grande has also put some of Cafe…
Texas Ren Fest Still Looking for Actors; Auditions This Saturday
Friday night, Jeff Baldwin will be opening Chicago, the play he’s directing at Owen Theatre in Conroe, but early the next morning he’ll be back out on the grounds of the Texas Renaissance Festival, looking for talent to staff his cast of roving street characters this fall. For the past…
In Defense of the New Ghostbusters Movie — 4 Reasons Not All Remakes Are a Bad Thing
Remakes of movies always seem to draw a lot of criticism, particularly when a classic is about to get remade, and I understand the reaction, I really do. Like a lot of film lovers, I threw up my hands in a “Why are they doing this?!” fit of despair when…
CenterPoint Is Asking Regulators for a Rate Hike — Again
On Wednesday, Houston City Council passed an ordinance opposing CenterPoint’s request to increase price rates for its 2 million-plus customers. CenterPoint was asking to bill its customers $49 million, in the form of rate increases, for large capital investment costs, even though it already succeeded in hiking prices last year—and…
Survivor of Gang Rape Faces Deportation After Feds Deny Request for Asylum Review
Immigration officials denied an El Salvador woman and her 12-year old daughter a second asylum hearing, even after they became aware of the fact that the MS-13 gang raped the woman multiple times in El Salvador and threatened to kill her family and rape her daughter. Adding to the trauma…
Big Tex Road Trip: 10 Essential Restaurants Across Texas
In a few weeks, the Houston Press will publish a Texas road trip guide that will challenge readers to ride from the known to the unknown. The Lone Star State is 268,820 square miles—almost twice the size of the entire country of Germany—and when exploring such a vast place, people…
William Shatner Looks Forward to Houston Barbecue and Space City Comic Con
With Space City Comic Con just weeks away (May 27-29), we checked in with renaissance man William Shatner for his take on Houston barbecue, the 50th anniversary celebration of Star Trek: The Original Series, and his imminent need for a transporter. “I’m so anxious to get there. I’m really getting…
HBO’s Houston Texans Edition of Hard Knocks Wins Two Sports Emmy Awards (w/ LOTS of VIDEO)
Last August, via the HBO series Hard Knocks, the world was introduced to a sailor-mouthed head coach, a special teamer with nothing but the clothes on his back and a satchel of dreams, and a superhero Gatorade-drinkin’, Reebok-wearin’ cyborg… and 88 of their teammates… a few dozen of whom were…
Lou Reed, David Bowie & Prince: Rebels With a Higher Cause
As I cruised by the world’s second largest refinery that sits squat on the east side spilling plumes into the air like a William Blake nightmare, I had an epiphany. I just penned a new book about the links between music and conscience, so the deaths of David Bowie, Prince,…
“F*** Donald Trump”: The Song Campaign 2016 Has Been Waiting For
I’ve been listening to Nina Simone on endless repeat lately. I can’t turn it off and I can’t explain why. I feel an anxiety moving across our culture, like a collective shudder at the thought of what this country might become if our powder keg of a racial divide is…
Tonight’s Vote to Rename Schools Prompts a Letter Threatening Legal Action Against HISD
And now, reaching true epic proportions, the Houston ISD battle over schools continuing to be named after members of the Confederacy has entered a new phase. We have the threat of legal action against Houston ISD if trustees approve the name changes at seven schools tonight. So if anyone thought…
Maggie Koerner Returns to Houston With a Growing Fan Base and Valid ID
It’s unwise to attempt entry into any music venue with illegitimate identification. We’d further warn against handing your ill-gotten identity document to the eagle-eyed, muscle-bound doormen of the Nightingale Room, who are trained to spot a false ID even before you pull it from your billfold. The only possible exception…
Feds: Someone Intentionally Set the West Fertilizer Plant Fire That Killed 15 People
After a three-year, $2 million investigation involving more than 400 interviews, federal authorities announced today that the West, Texas plant fire and explosion that killed 15 people was the result of arson. On the evening of April 17, 2013, a fire erupted at the West Fertilizer Co., then roughly 20…
Man Suffocates to Death While Building Life-Size Sand Castle in Spring
On Tuesday night, a father playing with his daughter in some sand dunes north of Houston died after a cave-like tunnel he was building in the dunes collapsed on top of him. Harris County Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman told the Houston Press that the sand dunes had formed at…
Hate Group Planning Islamic Library Protest Totally Doesn’t Think They’re a Hate Group
A spokesperson for group planning an armed protest of the Islamic Da’wah Center in downtown Houston later this month wants everyone to know his peeps aren’t bigoted, they would just prefer if Muslims didn’t live in the U.S. Organized by an online secessionist community called Heart of Texas, the May…
Disclosure Takes Advantage of All Space City Has to Offer
Disclosure Revention Music Center May 10, 2016 Disclosure’s meteoric rise to success has been well-deserved. Brothers Guy and Howard Lawrence have created a distinct and recognizable sound in the EDM world, and Tuesday night marked the second part of their spring tour in Houston in support of their sophomore release,…
Sturgill Simpson Brings Rebel Country (and a Whole Lot More) to White Oak Music Hall
Sturgill Simpson The Lawn at White Oak Music Hall May 10, 2016 To label Sturgill Simpson strictly a country artist would be unfair. Sure, the 37-year-old singer-songwriter from Kentucky tore through a number of country tunes at his sold-out show at White Oak Music Hall on Tuesday night, but it…
Report: Documents Show Active Flirtation Between Big XII and University of Houston
It’s getting down to nut cutting time in the evaluation of Big XII expansion, for both the conference’s current members and its prospective members, and if the University of Houston doesn’t gain admittance to the Big XII, it will not have been for a lack of trying. And apparently, we…
A Look at The Dunlavy, the Breakfast and Lunch Hot Spot on Buffalo Bayou
The long line that stretched out the door by 10 a.m. on a sunny Saturday testified to the fact that The Dunlavy, which opened about six months ago, is Houston’s new, trendy place to brunch. Without a doubt, part of the big draw is the space itself. Long, floor-to-ceiling windows…
Mother Says Daughter Was Molested At Immigration Lockup Texas Just Tried to License as Childcare Center
A mother who fled repeated rape by gang members and other threats of violence in El Salvador claims in court documents that her 12-year-old daughter was molested in a South Texas detention center for asylum-seeking immigrants. The story surfaced this week as activists and mothers held in immigration lockup continue…
After Flood Deaths in Galleria Area, Authorities Install New Gates
Just days after the historic Houston floods dumped billions of gallons of rain across the region, the Harris County Toll Road Authority released a video showing one woman’s fatal decision. Ignoring a tow truck driver blocking the Westpark Tollway ramp leading to 610 South, the woman drove into what the…
The Fabiola Project at the Byzantine Fresco Chapel: The Same Artwork 514 Times (But Not Really)
Francis Alys has taken the “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” adage to a whole other insane level. Nearly 20 years ago, the Belgium-born, Mexico City-based artist started collecting amateur portraits of Saint Fabiola, a fourth-century Roman saint who’s often cited as a precursor to Mother Teresa. French academic…
Mark’s American Cuisine to “Suspend Service” After May 29
In a surprising turn of events, chef Mark Cox and his wife and business partner, Lisa, announced via a press release yesterday that Mark’s American Cuisine at 1658 Westheimer will “suspend service” after May 29. When and if it reopens, it is very unlikely it will return as the same…
NASA’s Broken Kepler Telescope Has Found More Than 1,200 New Planets
It’s amazing what a broken spacecraft can do. The Kepler Space Telescope has technically been busted for the past three years, but it keeps finding new exoplanets. On Tuesday NASA scientists announced that Kepler has done it again, identifying 1,248 additional exoplanets, the largest single find of a clutch of…
Free Showings of HGO’s Tosca at Miller Outdoor Theatre
Puccini’s classic opera Tosca, celebrated and by some adored for all the death it contains — well, besides the great music — will be presented in Houston with an added punch, according to baritone Weston Hurt who’ll sing the Scarpia role. “When Tosca kills me in the second act, she…
Dwight Howard Hits a Home Run on TNT Post-Game Show
When news broke earlier this week that Houston Rockets (and possible soon to be free agent) center Dwight Howard was going to be appearing on TNT’s post game show following Game 5 of the Spurs-Thunder series, I not-at-all jokingly said on my radio show that I would be setting my…
Texas Will Accept a 15-Month Lifeline From the Feds, But Not Medicaid Expansion
Harris Health CEO George Masi said he would like to assume that government exists to serve people. And if that’s the case, he said, then his mission over the next 15 months will be to convince state leaders not to leave potentially thousands of his patients without care. Masi runs…
Big Tex Road Trip: Best Historical and Oddball
The Houston Press is getting closer to publishing its ultimate state-encompassing road trip that will take drivers to every region of this crazy big state. (Better get an oil change.) In the meantime, we’ve compiled some of the coolest Texas history sites and roadside oddities. If you have a favorite…
Love Hurts in Lanthimos’ Daring The Lobster, but It Beats the Alternative
Even by the standards of Yorgos Lanthimos, The Lobster’s premise is a doozy: Colin Farrell plays a recently single schlub forced to report to the Hotel, where he has 45 days to form a romantic relationship lest he be turned into an animal of his choosing. This is the plight…
